Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs showed off "one more hobby" Wednesday, with a newly redesigned Apple TV that costs less than half of the price of its predecessor -- $99.

The new Apple TV has a built-in power supply, HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi, all packed into a device that is a quarter of the size of the previous generation hardware.

"It's a fourth the size," Jobs said. "You can hold it in the palm of your hand."

Features

The CEO said that the new Apple TV does away with concerns of storage, as it is based on a rental model rather than purchasing. Users can rent first-run HDTV movies for $4.99, while single episodes of TV shows in HD will be available for 99 cents from Fox and ABC.

"We think the rest of the studios will see the light and get on board pretty fast," Jobs said.

Users can also stream content from an iOS device running version 4.2 or later. Jobs demonstrated streaming the movie "Up," instantly from an iPad over Wi-Fi.

The new Apple TV also offers access to Netflix streaming, YouTube videos, and photos from Flickr. Content can also be streamed from a Mac or PC, and from a MobileMe account. The new Apple TV will ship later this month.

Other features, according to Apple, include:

Silent, cool, and small: The new Apple TV is quiet, energy efficient, and so small it fits just about anywhere.

Less clutter with HDMI: Play audio and video though a single HDMI connection.

Integration: Includes access to Netflix, Flickr, Rotten Tomatoes, and MobileMe.

Photos, music and videos: View your own content on the new Apple TV. And stream content wirelessly via an iOS 4.2 or later device using the new AirPlay technology.

Remote app for iPhone or iPod touch . Remote uses the same easy-to-use interface you already use to browse music and video on your Multi-Touch device. So right away, you know how to navigate. If you want to find something specific, use your device’s QWERTY keyboard to quickly tap out the title instead of clicking letters on the Apple TV screen.

"The new Apple TV, paired with the largest selection of online HD movie and TV show rentals, lets users watch Hollywood content on their HD TV whenever they want," Jobs said in a press release. "This tiny, silent box costing just $99 lets users watch thousands of HD movies and TV shows, and makes all of their music, photos and videos effortlessly available on their home entertainment system."

I was gonna say, isnt this just a glorified DVR? and on those you can keep the episode indefinetly, no?

What about people who are sick of paying for overpriced & poor service from the cable companies? Think about how much money you could save by just streaming the occasional movie. And what about the savings from not going to a theater with ridiculous ticket prices and costs for popcorn and soda.

I still don't think Apple is being serious about the AppleTV. Just making it smaller with no real storage and only able to stream content and rent content - not impressed. Even though they have dropped the price to $99 - I still think this will continue to be a "hobby". As for 99 cents rentals - I have a DVR. I was really hoping for an iPhone 4.0 type OS with internet access and Apps. I will keep my current model.

Couldn't they have chosen someone with even a modicum of vocal talent to close the show... Martin sounds even crappier than usual here, and should just stick to recording where he can autotune his horrible voice to sound (somewhat) acceptable.

I was gonna say, isnt this just a glorified DVR? and on those you can keep the episode indefinetly, no?

Yup. I'm underwhelmed, despite going into this expecting little. The whistles and bells of this device are just not important at all to me. The old ATV is a much better device, frankly, I use it pretty much every day. Rentals? Bah. I'll keep my current TV programming sources, thanks.

Cool device overall, but it's a bit nonsensical to expect users to 'rent' TV episodes for US .99 (at only 720p) when it's so easy to simply use a DVR/Tivo type device.

We'll See...

For some it may be more expensive to just rent, however a year ago I went through the numbers and found out that it would be about half the cost per year to just get rid of comcast and buy the episodes from iTunes. I even bought a mac mini to play them on my TV and it's still about 2/3 the cost for the first year. After the first year I'll have saved hundreds of dollars. Now this is only for about 6-8 TV shows in a year, once you start watching 12+ TV shows it might be worth it to just get a DVR etc.

I personally like the idea of making it even cheaper and giving me the choice of buying a show or renting it for cheaper. There are some shows I'd want to keep, but many where I'd only want to watch once and get rid of.

I expected a LOT more from a new ATV. No app store is just mind boggling, what on earth were they thinking? The only addition of note is netflix which is US only anyway, so for the rest of the planet it's just the old ATV with the hard drive removed.

I think they got the hardware right but not the software. 1 x power, 1 x HDMI, 1 x Ethernet/Wireless = great.

But the software! I was so excited to hear Steve say "People don't want a computer in their living room." But then the demo starts, and there's this whole row of menus with submenus, and I straight away knew this would remain a hobby.

The software should have been as simple as the hardware. You plug it in and it straight away shows a Coverflow of all the movies available for rent. And that's the whole interface.

But why so simple? Because when will people understand, the TV is for blobbing out! It's the one place in this hectic world that you don't have to think. And here come these tech companies, trying to add multi-layer menus to the only blob-out place we have left.

It's only like your DVR only if you religiously record every episode that you (or your friends) might someday want to watch and your DVR storage is unlimited. AppleTV gives you instant access to shows that you may not be interested in today, but might be next year, even if the show is no longer on the air.

I really don't like the direction things are moving in......used to be able to actually buy CD's which had better quality sound.....now you download them and hope your drive doesn't crash or they change the DRM requirements bricking your library overnight.

Used to be able to go to a store and buy a DVD.....now you rent them and forever lose the benefit of actually owning the item. If all we could do is rent you'd never be able to see the unaltered versions of Stars Wars or see ET before Spielberg changed the guns to lollypops.....any film considered controversial or subversive might not be available at all or would be edited etc.

I'll probably get it because of the new $99 price and that I use handbrake to import my DVDs to my Mac, but it does nothing to get me away from physical media. If don't have you DVDs ripped to your hard drive or already buy from iTunes, I see no reason to but this at all. There are much better options out there.

1) Red Box good. No Hulu integration bad. Apple contract service would be better, but not while jobs is alive since he seems to be deathly allergic to them.

2) Apple seems oblivious to the fact that the kiosks are the competition in the rental space, no high priced video on demand. I'm not lazy enough were I'd pay $5 to rent from Apple when I take a five minute trip to Walgreens to rent the Blu-Ray for $1.50 from Red Box. There seems to be a disconnect when it comes to the video space that wasn't there with music. Then again, with Steve's comments a couple months back I don't know if they fully understand the reasons that digital music took off.

My first thought was that I might actually be interested at $99. Then, I thought again. It's a $99 wireless hub and that's all. I don't care about renting TV shows or movies through iTunes. I have Netflix on my PS3, giving me Bluray+streaming+gaming. I also have a multi-room DVR. I can rent movies if I choose through FiOs.

I think Apple is really going the wrong way here. Introduce an Apple TV with bluray, multi-DVR and physical media storage of 1-2TB. Charge $599 + $99 for satellite (other room) boxes like the current (new) Apple TV. Goodbye $40 a month charge for three boxes. I'm sold.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either.

I already have a SlimDevices Squeezebox that cost me $250. But for $100 the aTV can do a whole lot more. And I often use my Wii to show slideshows straight off SD cards after taking pictures. aTV can display anything in my iPhoto library.

I think the aTV is going on my Christmas list - and maybe on the gift list for some relatives.

I'd love to see the hardware specs on the aTV and eagerly await what the jailbreakers can do with it.

Cool device overall, but it's a bit nonsensical to expect users to 'rent' TV episodes for US .99 (at only 720p) when it's so easy to simply use a DVR/Tivo type device.

True, but since it streams from mac you can still buy episodes in iTunes, use a tivo device in a mac or PC, or any other way that is available to download the episode. And streaming netflix is huge, although I'd love to see more streaming options like ABC, hulu, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ortal

I was gonna say, isnt this just a glorified DVR? and on those you can keep the episode indefinetly, no?

My first thought was that I might actually be interested at $99. Then, I thought again. It's a $99 wireless hub and that's all. I don't care about renting TV shows or movies through iTunes. I have Netflix on my PS3, giving me Bluray+streaming+gaming. I also have a multi-room DVR. I can rent movies if I choose through FiOs.

I think Apple is really going the wrong way here. Introduce an Apple TV with bluray, multi-DVR and physical media storage of 1-2TB. Charge $599 + $99 for satellite (other room) boxes like the current (new) Apple TV. Goodbye $40 a month charge for three boxes. I'm sold.

what content can be streamed from other iOS devices?

can the Netflix app stream to the AppleTV? Does your iPhone become the remote + apps for the AppleTV?

I really don't like the direction things are moving in......used to be able to actually buy CD's which had better quality sound.....now you download them and hope your drive doesn't crash or they change the DRM requirements bricking your library overnight.

Used to be able to go to a store and buy a DVD.....now you rent them and forever lose the benefit of actually owning the item. If all we could do is rent you'd never be able to see the unaltered versions of Stars Wars or see ET before Spielberg changed the guns to lollypops.....any film considered controversial or subversive might not be available at all or would be edited etc.

We are slowly giving away our rights.

There is no DRM on iTunes songs. That was like 2007. And you can still buy CDs. Go to Best Buy. They have tons of them. Still have DVDs too. And a bunch of other options for video besides Apple. Do you get out much?

I think they got the hardware right but not the software. 1 x power, 1 x HDMI, 1 x Ethernet/Wireless = great.

But the software! I was so excited to hear Steve say "People don't want a computer in their living room." But then the demo starts, and there's this whole row of menus with submenus, and I straight away knew this would remain a hobby.

I have the old one and imo the interface is pretty brain dead simple. Sync where a bit more complex but they are gone so its even more simple.